The component density of electronic circuits that may be incorporated onto a common substrate has increased substantially with the advent of so-called "Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits", or "VLSI", wherein integrated circuit fabrication techniques are implemented to produce solid state memories of one megabit and more. The component density of VLSI circuits is limited by, among other things, (1) the limited resolution of components and interconnections using present photolithographic techniques, (2) the requirement of power leads distributed throughout the integrated circuit to carry bias voltage to the components therein and, accordingly, (3) the difficulty of fabricating integrated circuits as threedimensional structures. The invention described herein is directed principally toward (2).
The biasing source of existing electronic systems is external. The system is interconnected with the external source by a set of conducting leads distributed in an appropriate way to reach each one of the components of the system. When any component is situated deep into the bulk of the system, very far from its periphery, the complexity of the connection of the electrical system increases substantially with a concomitant reduction of bias voltage distribution efficiency. Also, the leads necessary to reach each one of the components of a VLSI system constitute a network whose complexity, volume and weight limit integration density and operating efficiency, e.g., switching speed.
In order to increase the integration density, as well as to reduce the volume and weight, of such circuits, it is desirable to eliminate all leads for power delivery into the circuits, and to create a new architecture incorporating components that do not rely on external power, but rather are self-powered.
Accordingly, one object of the invention is to provide unique self-powered electronic components, and a manufacturing method therefor.
Another object of the invention is to increase the integration density of very large scale integrated circuits by providing self-powered circuit components therein.
A further object is to combine multi-layer circuit component structures and a solid-state battery structure to form self-powered electronic components.
A still further object is to integrate the function of an electronic component, such as a Josephson junction diode or transistor, with an internal power source for delivering to the component its biasing voltage.